Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov begins an African tour in Egypt on Sunday, seeking to draw on demand for non-Western alliances.
o Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov begins an African tour on Sunday, seeking non-Western alliances.
o Lavrov dismissed claims that Moscow caused the global food crisis.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will begin his Africa tour in Egypt on Sunday, on his mission to gain non-Western alliances as Moscow pushes back against international pressures over the war in Ukraine. In Egypt, Lavrov is to meet officials trying to square links to Russia with their relationship to the United States, which along with other Western powers seek to isolate Russia with strict sanctions after its invasion into Ukraine.
Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has dismissed claims that Moscow caused the global food crisis. In a speech to Arab League ambassadors in Cairo, he said Western nations were distorting the truth about the impact of sanctions on global food security. He accused Western nations of trying to impose themselves over the rest.
Much of the Arab world and Africa is poorly affected by grain shortages caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. Russia and Ukraine had struck a deal this week to resume Ukraine’s grain exports with the help of Turkey only to have the port of Odessa be targeted by missiles on Saturday. Mr Lavrov will go on to visit three African nations to rally support amid anger over the war, denying Russian origin of the attacks.
Mr Lavrov said that Western nations have been imposing sanctions on Russia, promoting them to garner support from other nations, reciting the conclusion that it is not about Ukraine but the future of the world order. Lavrov said that everyone must support a rules-based world order but the rules are written based on what the West wants in its own favor.
Earlier, Mr Lavrov conducted talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry. Egypt has significant ties with Russia, which supplies wheat, weapons and a large number of tourists. After his talks with Mr Shoukry, Mr Lavrov spoke to a joint news conference saying that the West was prolonging the conflict despite knowing the implications of it.
It is only the first stage for Mr Lavrov of the brief tour of Africa following Ethiopia, Uganda and Congo-Brazzaville. In an article published by local news outlets, Mr Lavrov said that his country has always supported Africans in their struggle for freedom from the colonizers. He added that Russia appreciated Africans’ balanced stance on the issue of Russia and Ukraine.
Ukraine and Russia jointly supply more than 40% of Africa’s wheat and Egypt is a big consumer of Ukrainian wheat. In 2019, it imported 3.62 million tonnes of wheat which is more than any other country at the time. In his article, Lavrov rejected the claim that Russia was manufacturing famine and blamed it on Western propaganda.
He added that Western sanctions imposed on Russia have worsened “negative trends” in the international food market, stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Sergei Lavrov is trying to convince African countries that it is in their interests to ally with Russia instead of the West, claiming that Russians will help them complete the process of decolonisation.
It is clear that much of the continent bears a reluctance to take sides over the Russian war in Ukraine. The Cold War already had a devastating impact, fuelling conflicts in Africa and interrupting development. As of now, the greatest concern is the rising cost of food and fuel as more than 40% of Africa’s wheat is imported from Russia and Ukraine. African leaders are aware that when people cannot afford to eat, their own positions in power are at stake.
